House Bill 947

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 83-5-35, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972,
TO PROVIDE THAT BASING INSURANCE RATES OR ELIGIBILITY FOR INSURANCE ON THE
INDIVIDUAL'S CREDIT HISTORY SHALL BE PROHIBITED AS AN UNFAIR PRACTICE IN THE
BUSINESS OF INSURANCE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

83-5-35.
The following are hereby defined as unfair methods of competition and
unfair and deceptive acts or practices in the business of insurance.

(a)
Misrepresentations and false advertising of policy contracts. Making, issuing, circulating, or causing to
be made, issued, or circulated, any estimate, illustration, circular, or
statement misrepresenting the terms of any policy issued or to be issued, or
the benefits or advantages promised thereby, or the dividends or share of the
surplus to be received thereon; or making any false or misleading statement as
to the dividends or share of surplus previously paid on similar policies; or
making any misleading representation or any misrepresentation as to the
financial condition of any insurer, or as to the legal reserve system upon
which any life insurer operates; or using any name or title of any policy or class
of policies misrepresenting the true nature thereof; or making any
misrepresentation to any policyholder insured in any company for the purpose of
inducing or tending to induce such policyholder to lapse, forfeit, or surrender
his insurance.

(b)
False information and advertising generally. Making, publishing, disseminating,
circulating, or placing before the public, or causing, directly or indirectly,
to be made, published, disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public,
in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication, or in the form of a notice,
circular, pamphlet, letter, or poster, or over any radio or television station,
or in any other way, an advertisement, announcement, or statement containing
any assertion, representation, or statement with respect to the business of
insurance, or with respect to any person in the conduct of his insurance
business, which is untrue, deceptive, or misleading.

(c)
Defamation. Making,
publishing, disseminating, or circulating, directly or indirectly, or aiding,
abetting, or encouraging the making, publishing, disseminating, or circulating
of any oral or written statement or any pamphlet, circular, article, or
literature which is false and maliciously critical of or derogatory to the
financial condition of an insurer, and which is calculated to injure any person
engaged in the business of insurance.

(d)
Boycott, coercion and intimidation. Entering into any agreement to commit, or by any concerted action
committing, any act of boycott, coercion, or intimidation resulting in or
tending to result in unreasonable restraint of, or monopoly in, the business of
insurance.

(e)
False financial statements.
Filing with any supervisory or other public official, or making,
publishing, disseminating, circulating, or delivering to any person, or placing
before the public, or causing directly or indirectly to be made, published,
disseminated, circulated, delivered to any person, or placed before the public,
any false statement of financial condition of an insurer, with intent to
deceive.

Making any false entry in any book, report,
or statement of any insurer with intent to deceive any agent or examiner
lawfully appointed to examine into its condition or into any of its affairs, or
any public official to whom such insurer is required by law to report or file,
or who has authority by law to examine into its condition or into any of its
affairs, or, with like intent, willfully omitting to make a true entry of any
material fact pertaining to the business of such insurer in any book, report,
or statement of such insurer.

(f)
Stock operations and insurance company advisory board contracts. Issuing or delivering, or permitting agents,
officers, or employees to issue or deliver, agency company stock or other
capital stock, or benefit certificates or shares in any corporation, or
securities, or any special or any insurance company advisory board contracts or
other contracts of any kind promising returns and profit as an inducement to
insurance.

(g)
Unfair discrimination.(i) Making or permitting any unfair
discrimination between individuals of the same class and equal expectation of
life in the rates charged for any contract of life insurance or of life annuity
or in the dividends or other benefits payable thereon, or in any other of the
terms and conditions of such contract.

(ii) Making or permitting any unfair
discrimination between individuals of the same class and of essentially the
same hazard in the amount of premium, policy fees, or rates charged for any
policy or contract of accident or health insurance or in the benefits payable
thereunder, or in any of the terms or conditions of such contract, or in any
other manner whatever.

(iii) Making or permitting any unfair
discrimination between individuals of the same class in the rates charged or
eligibility for any type of insurance based solely on the credit rating of the
individual being insured.

(h)
Designation of agent, solicitor, or insurer. Requiring as a condition precedent to the
purchase or the lending of money upon the security of real or personal property
that any insurance covering such property or liability arising from the
ownership, maintenance, or use thereof, to be procured by or on behalf of the
vendee or by borrower in connection with such purchase or loan, be so procured
through any particular person, agent, solicitor, or in any particular insurer.

This section shall not prevent the
reasonable exercise by any such vendor or lender of his right to approve or
disapprove the insurer selected to underwrite the insurance, and to determine
the adequacy of the insurance offered.

(i)
Any violation of Sections 83-3-33 and 83-3-121.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force
from and after July 1, 2005.